Next year, State University of San Diego will offer an undergraduate degree in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender studies.

"It’s definitely a growing area of scholarship and is taken very seriously, especially at the graduate level," said Jennifer Ruark, a deputy managing editor at the Chronicle of Higher Education, who has tracked the evolution of LGBT studies.

"At many places, these classes are part of the gender studies or women’s studies majors at the undergraduate level."

"We had about 30 students minoring in LGBT studies every year," said Esther Rothblum, professor of women’s studies and the LGBT studies academic adviser. "We had so many courses on LGBT issues in so many departments, a group of us got together to put together a major."

Currently, the universities which offer this possibility are Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, N.Y.